How to Knit a Hat on Long Looms

Measure the head of the individual for whom the hat is intended, to find the diameter of the finished hat. Divide the measurement in half. Measure your long loom from one end of the loom to the number that is half the diameter of the person's head. If the loom is longer than needed, add a snap-on peg at this point.

Pull a length of yarn from each skein and put the ends together. Make a slipknot in the double strand of yard. Loop the slipknot over the peg that projects horizontally out from the end of the long loom, and pull to tighten the loop on the peg.

Pull the double strand of yarn -- called the working yarn -- toward the center of the long loom, and wrap it around the first peg in a counterclockwise direction. Move to the second peg and wrap in the same manner. Continue until all pegs are wrapped. This is called e-wrapping.

E-wrap a second row of yarn over the pegs. After wrapping the last peg for the second time, wrap the loose strands of the working yarn temporarily around the horizontal peg, to hold the yarn taut while knitting off the first row of wraps.

Knit the first row of wraps off the loom with your pick tool, starting with the first peg wrapped. Slide the pick under the first yarn wrap. Pull the yarn up and over the peg toward the inside of the loom. Repeat in order, on all pegs.

Loosen the working yarn from the horizontal peg, and e-wrap a third row onto the loom. Secure the working yarn as before, and knit off the bottom strand of wraps as in the previous step.

Continue to e-wrap and knit until you have 3 inches of knitted fabric. Pull the fabric up through the center of the loom to bring it to the top. Using your pick or your fingers, take the first loops at the top edge of the knit fabric and cast them over the corresponding pegs. This step doubles the fabric, creating a hat band that will not roll.

Remove the working yarn from the peg, and lay it across the first peg on the outside edge of the loom. Do not wrap the yarn this time. Pick up the bottom loop on the peg with your pick and pull it up across the working yarn and off the peg to the inside of the loom. This creates a flat stitch, like the stockinette stitch of two-needle work. Continue to knit each peg in this manner, without wrapping the yarn, but knitting it as you go.

Knit until you have approximately 6 inches of fabric, when knitting an adult-size hat.

Cut your working yarn, leaving a 6-inch tail. Cut a length of yarn twice the diameter of your hat, plus 12 inches. Double the yarn, matching the loose ends together. Place the looped end of the double strand, called the gathering yarn, over the fifth peg to the right of the first peg of the knitted fabric.

Pull the gathering yarn to your left on the outside of the long loom past the first peg. Insert the pick tool from the top of the first peg down to the bottom of the loom, and grab the gathering yarn. Pull the gathering yarn up inside the loop. After the gathering yarn is inside 10 stitches, remove the gathering yarn loop from the peg so it will not be in your way when you reach the last pegs. Continue pulling gathering yarn inside each loop until the entire round is completed. Loosen the yarn off the horizontal peg where the yarn was started.

Slide the hat off the loom. With the hat wrong-side out, pull the two ends of the gathering yarn together tightly, closing the top of the hat. Tie the yarn in a knot. Take all strands of the gathering yarn in one hand and the strands of the starting yarn in another hand and tie another knot. Cut all strands to 2 inches long.